But all in all, despite that minor thing, I am happy that I found this book and that it was oodles of fun. It made me smile, made me laugh. And Sara Ogilvie has done it again with her amazing art/illustrations.

Rundell and Ogilvie share the space so well in what is a delightfully inspired partnership from Bloomsbury. At times, Rundell’s narrative dominates but is always accompanied by Ogilivie’s richly-coloured vignettes. At other times, the words are reduced so that the watercolour, pen and print illustrations can dominate: the escape of the animals from their cages is an absolute delight and a real cavalcade of colour and energy. It is clear that Ogilvie has spent time with the text and chosen key moments to represent with real care. Coffee house Caffè Nero has announced the 16-strong shortlist for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, recognising the outstanding books of the past 12... KATHERINE: Zebras seem to me to be so startling and different in their beauty: I wanted to write a book that would salute their loveliness. De zebra is ontvoerd door de gemene meneer Spuug en de zebra-ouders zijn gevangengenomen. Gelukkig krijgen Mink en Storm hulp van hond Regenboog en eekhoorn Rodentia om te traceren waar ze zijn. Er ontstaat een plan voor een spannende ontsnappingspoging bij een groot oud huis in niemandsland. Maar is het uitvoerbaar?De geweldige zebra-ontsnapping’ is echt een spannend, grappig én hartverwarmend verhaal. Het is een mooie overgang van prentenboek naar leesboek, maar zeker ook een ideaal voorleesboek. De tekst is verspreid over een zestigtal bladzijden mét prachtige illustraties van Sara Ogilvie. Die prenten zijn echt een enorme verrijking op elke pagina, zo speels en wervelend. SARA: Initially it was the appeal of drawing the young Zebra character, Gabriel. But I liked the way Kate Rundell had developed a bond in the story between the little girl protagonist Mink, and Zebra Gabriel, making a strong and surprising friendship. Overall the story plays with clever twists on The 101 Dalmatians. I had illustrated Dodie Smith's book a few years earlier for The Folio Society and the idea of now focusing on stripes rather than spots had exciting possibilities. With no time to lose, Mink encourages Gabriel to find his inner warhorse and fight for his parents’ freedom. Employing the help of two more creatures, a cantankerous but delightful dog called Rainbow and a ledgerdemain-proficient squirrel named Rodentina, they head off in search of the evil, Terry-Thomas-inspired, Mr. Spit. Can they find the courage, wit and tenacity to win the day? Seems to hum with the history of Welsh legends’: The Boy Who Dreamed Dragons by Caryl Lewis. Illustration: Carmen Saldana

The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children... SARA: There were a few. Mainly the spreads that needed to show the full alphabet of animal pairs collected by Mr Spit. I really loved drawing them all but the varying sizes of them meant getting creative with positioning small creatures in places they'd be seen. Elephant trunk ends and little animals grabbing onto ears offered good solutions.

By Author / Illustrator

KATHERINE: The thing I loved about writing shorter books for younger writers is that you can hold the whole story in your head at once: where novels sprawl outside your imagination, a picture book can be held steady, so you can look at it from every angle, and bend it into shape. Mink, Storm, de hond Regenboog en eekhoorn Rodentia trommelen al hun vrienden op om de dieren uit hun kooien te bevrijden.

In this one our brave MC Mink meets a little zebra who is all lost! His parents got stolen away and he hopes that Mink is the one who will help him. Well, he has found the right girl, because Mink is all in on helping him out. I really liked Mink, she was brave, fun, sweet. I loved how they planned things, because of course you cannot just head into like that. You need to know how, what, why, where. You can’t just run around the country willynilly. And I loved what Mink’s plan was and hope that this also means she found a new friend. I loved seeing the message travel all over the country. From mouse to bird to talkative rabbits/bunnies to eventually the place they will find what they are looking for. Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child... De zebra brieste en stampte met zijn hoef, en de kleuren warrelden twee keer zo fel en krachtig. Plotseling vóélde ze met absolute zekerheid wat de zebra zei. Ze voelde het tintelen in haar vingertoppen en langs haar hele ruggengraat.”Then an adventurous trip happens and I was just all in for it. I loved seeing the countryside fly by as our zebra (or as the dog calls him barcode-horse) rushed to get to his family. Things got very exciting (and maybe a bit scary) when we saw the place that the zebra family was brought to and who the owner was. I have no clue about his English name as I read this book in Dutch, but in Dutch he is called Mr. Spuug (Mr. Spit), which is just a perfect name for this awful horrible bad (and yes I could figure out a few more words for him) man. I loved how Mink stood her ground and loved what followed next. Which I won’t spoil, because haha, no. You will just have to find out. But it was magnificent. Sarah Ogilvie's illustrations are wonderfully vivid, particularly her rendering of the wide array of animals that pass messages along to each other and highlight the power of communication and friendship. Rainbow the dog even says at one point, 'Your plan won't work, it relies on other people, and only fools rely on other people'. By the end of the story he is proven incorrect as people (or animal) power wins out in the end. This reminded me of What the Ladybird Heard,with the animals coming together as a team and with communication being a crucial factor in foiling the plans of the wrongdoers. It's an absolute joy to read. A delightful magical book about a girl who meets a zebra (or a zebra meets her) and she gets into a grand adventure. Mink knows she has to help Gabriel the zebra. But how? He can’t live in her bedroom forever, cosy as it is. She chats to the neighbour’s dog, and soon a chain of animals is passing on the urgent message to look out for two zebras in a cage. Will they find Gabriel’s parents in time?

Mink doesn't believe in rules. She loves running wild and free. So, when a zebra appears in the square where she lives and she finds out that his parents have been captured by the evil Mr Spit, she knows that it's up to her to help. So begins a grand adventure to rescue a whole menagerie of animals - an adventure that will take all of Mink's courage and determination.KATHERINE: Yes, exactly that! - to both ask for help, and to hear the call when it comes. I wanted to say: those who ask for help often create the potential for change: for something new, and more generous, to take shape. Please note that sensitive children may find this story confronting as it does talk about Mr Spit collecting the animals with the intention to kill and then stuff them. He is also quite a scary character and calls Mink an 'idiot child'. Doordat de babyzebra gekleurde plaatjes stuurt die Mink achter haar ogen ziet, voor Mink een nieuwe manier van communiceren, komt ze te weten hoe Storm heet en bij haar is terechtgekomen. KATHERINE: A girl, Mink, is playing on the swing near her home when she hears a noise, goes flying and bumps her head. The noise was a baby zebra called Gabriel and the bump has shaken something loose: now she can understand animals, through pictures and colours behind her eyes.